JP6504229B2 - Ice maker - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an ice making apparatus having a refrigeration cycle comprising a compressor, a condenser, an expansion mechanism, and an evaporator.

  An auger type ice making machine is known as an ice making apparatus having a refrigeration cycle consisting of a compressor, a condenser, an expansion mechanism, and an evaporator of this type (for example, Patent Document 1). This auger type ice making machine is provided with an ice making unit of a heat insulation structure which makes ice pieces from supplied water.

  The ice making unit is formed as a heat insulating structure by winding a pipe-like evaporator constituting a refrigeration cycle around the outer peripheral surface of a cylindrical ice cylinder and surrounding the periphery with a heat insulating material. The ice making unit causes the water supplied to the bottom of the ice making cylinder to adhere to the inner wall surface of the ice making cylinder by the operation of the freezing cycle. On the other hand, the ice making unit is thin ice that is attached to the inner wall surface of the ice making cylinder by an auger (screw-like rotary cutting blade) that is disposed in the ice making cylinder and rotated by a drive motor connected via a reduction gear. Cut into flakes and pressed up, and compressed and solidified by an ice compression extrusion head provided above the auger and then cut at the tip of the extrusion head to form chip-like ice pieces It is configured.

Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 61-28993

  This type of auger type ice making machine is excellent in small size and high ice making ability. However, in the auger type ice making machine, thin ice icing on the inner wall surface of the ice making cylinder is cut into flakes and pushed up by the driving force of the drive motor and compressed by the ice compression extrusion head provided above the auger There are the following problems because it is configured to

  That is, there is a problem that a drive motor for driving the auger is required, and since the drive motor locks when ice is clogged in the extrusion head, various measures must be taken to prevent the drive motor from locking.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above situation, and provides an ice making apparatus capable of forming chip-like ice pieces by extruding solidified ice in one direction without requiring a drive source. The purpose is

  As a result of various investigations to solve the above problems, the inventors pay attention to the fact that the volume expands in the process of water changing to an individual at a temperature below freezing and push the pressure due to the volume expansion into one direction of ice By utilizing it as a propulsive force, the invention of forming a chip-like ice piece without a drive source has been obtained.

In order to achieve the above object, an ice making apparatus according to the present invention is an ice making apparatus having a refrigeration cycle comprising a compressor, a condenser, an expansion mechanism, and an evaporator. An ice making cylinder having an ice making chamber having an outlet at the upper end of a hole extending linearly in the vertical direction and an inlet for making ice water at the bottom, and supplied into the ice making chamber via the inlet. It has an evaporator which cools the said ice-making cylinder so that ice-making water may be frozen. The ice making chamber faces an inlet for introducing ice making water and a portion above the lower region where the ice making water introduced from the inlet flows flows as an ice making region, and the ice making region is from the lower side to the upper side The cross section of the ice making area is a cross section of the lower area at the boundary between the lower area of the ice making chamber and the ice making area above the lower area. it is the lower step is formed to be smaller than the area, Freezer in the ice-making cylinder, said tapered receiving the pressure due to volume expansion when the ice making water is changed into ice by cooling the ice making region by the evaporator A reaction force from the portion and the lower step is used as a driving force for pushing up the ice to form a pillar-shaped ice block which travels upward in the ice making chamber (Claim 1) .

The present invention, in the ice making device, the ice making chamber, Ri Na formed in plural at predetermined intervals from each other along the periphery of the ice making cylinder comprising a cylinder body, a lower end of the ice making cylinder is A depression is formed in communication with each of the inlets provided at the lower part of the plurality of ice making chambers, and has an inverted conical protrusion extending downward at the center of the depression (claim 2) .

Further, according to the present invention, in the ice making apparatus, an upper step where the cross-sectional area of the upper area is larger than the cross-sectional area of the ice making area is at the boundary between the upper area of the ice making chamber and the ice making area below the upper area. It is characterized in that it is formed (claim 3) .

  According to the present invention, it is possible to form chip-like ice pieces by driving source-less as a driving force for advancing ice in a predetermined direction by pressure due to volumetric expansion when ice-making water becomes ice. As described above, it is possible to form chip-like ice pieces without requiring a drive motor for driving an auger that cuts up and pushes thin ice icing on the inner wall surface of the ice-making cylinder into flakes.

  Further, according to the present invention, since the gradient of the tapered portion of the ice making chamber is within a predetermined range, the volume expansion when ice making water becomes ice is effectively used as a driving force to push up the ice made in the ice making chamber. The effect of being able to

  Further, according to the present invention, since the ice making region of the ice making chamber is formed as a tapered portion, the entire ice making chamber (in particular, ice making water is supplied since there is a site where ice making water flows in the lower region of the ice making chamber. It has the effect that it is possible to eliminate the possibility of freezing the lower region of the

Further, according to the present invention, the lower step is formed at the boundary between the lower region of the ice making chamber and the ice making region above the lower region because the cross sectional area of the lower region is smaller than the cross sectional area of the ice making region. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the ice made in the ice making chamber from advancing to the lower region of the ice making chamber and, at the same time, the reaction force from the step surface receiving the pressure of volume expansion when the ice making water becomes ice. The effect is that it can be used as a driving force to push up the ice.

  Further, according to the present invention, a plurality of ice making chambers are formed along the peripheral edge of the ice making cylinder mutually at a predetermined distance, so that the effect of producing ice pieces can be improved.

  Further, according to the present invention, at the lower end of the ice making cylinder, an inverted conical protrusion extends downward at the central portion of the depression communicating with the respective inlets provided at the lower part of the plurality of ice making chambers. Thus, the air bubbles generated from the ice making water can be prevented from staying.

  Further, according to the present invention, the upper step is formed at the boundary between the upper area of the ice making chamber and the ice making area below the upper area by the cross sectional area of the upper area being larger than the cross sectional area of the ice making area. Since the ice formed by the tapered portion moves upward, the resistance of the inner wall of the ice making chamber to the ice can be reduced.

FIG. 1 shows an ice making apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, wherein (a) is an external view as viewed from the side, and (b) is a cross-sectional view of a portion indicated by arrow A in (a). FIG. 2 shows the appearance of the ice making unit according to the ice making apparatus of FIG. 1, where (a) is a side view of the ice making unit, (b) is a perspective view seen obliquely from above in (a), (c) is (a) ) Is a perspective view seen obliquely from below. 3 shows an assembled state in which a pipe-like evaporator and a heater are assembled to the ice-making cylinder of FIG. 2, (a) is a top view as viewed from above and (b) is a bottom view as viewed from below It is. 4 shows an assembled state in which the ice breaker and the joint are assembled to the ice-making cylinder of FIG. 3, (a) is a perspective view seen from obliquely above, (b) is a perspective view seen from obliquely below, c) is a perspective view of the joint removed from (b). FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the ice making unit. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the ice making cylinder. FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing the main parts of a modified example of the ice making apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  Hereinafter, an ice making apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail based on the drawings.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the ice making apparatus 1 according to this embodiment is formed by an ice making unit 10 having a heat insulating structure that freezes ice making water contained in an ice making cylinder to form ice pieces, and an ice making unit 10 It consists of the ice storage part 20 of the heat insulation structure which stores an ice piece on a rose child.

  The ice storage part 20 is formed as a heat insulation case by the heat insulation material 23 which injects and foam-molds the undiluted solution of hard plastic foam as a heat insulation core material between the bottomed cylindrical inner cylinder 21 and the outer cylinder 22, It is closed by the cover 30 of the heat insulation structure.

  At the center of the bottom of the ice storage unit 20, an opening through which the ice making unit 10 passes is provided, and the upper end of the ice making unit 10 is configured to face the inside of the ice storage unit 20 through this opening. The heat insulating material 23 of the ice storage unit 20 is formed by penetrating the bottom of the ice storage unit 20 with the ice making unit 10 described later, injecting the stock solution of hard plastic foam, and performing foam molding. In addition, a packing such as an O-ring is appropriately attached to the joint between the ice making unit 10 and the ice storage unit 20.

  As shown in (b) of FIG. 1, the ice making unit 10 has an ice making cylinder 11 whose upper end faces the inside of the ice storage unit 20, and a pipe-like evaporator wound around the outer peripheral surface of the ice making cylinder 11. 12, an ice breaker 13 fixed to the upper end of the ice-making cylinder 11, a joint 14 fixed to the lower end of the ice-making cylinder 11, and an evaporator 12 wound around the outer peripheral surface of the ice-making cylinder 11. A heat insulating material (foam-formed by a foam type) 15 surrounding the periphery is provided, and the heat insulating material 15 is formed as a heat insulating structure.

  The ice-making cylinder 11 is a metal (for example, stainless steel) cylindrical body as shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 and has a shape like a rotary type magazine of a revolver type handgun. That is, in the ice making cylinder 11, a plurality of ice making chambers 111, 111,... Are formed at predetermined intervals from each other along the peripheral edge of the cylindrical body. In addition, six ice making rooms 111, 111... Are provided.

  Each ice making chamber 111 has a circular cross section and is formed as a hole extending in the vertical direction in the ice making cylinder 11, and has an outlet 111a having a circular cross section similar to the ice making chamber 111 at its upper end. Further, each ice making chamber 111 has a semicircular inlet in which a part of the circular cross section is closed by the wall of the peripheral wall 113 forming the periphery of the circular recess 112 slightly smaller than the ice making cylinder 11 at the lower end. It has 111b.

  And as shown in the cross-sectional views of FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, in the ice making chamber 111, the cross-sectional area gradually increases as the ice making area IMK in which at least the pipe-like evaporator 12 is wound goes from the lower side to the upper side It is formed as a tapered portion.

  In this case, the slope of the taper is determined in accordance with the volume expansion (1.09 times) when water changes to ice. More specifically, the tapered portion (ice making region IMK) of the ice making chamber 111 is tapered in such a manner that the ratio of the cross sectional area other than the lower end to the cross sectional area of the lower end of the tapered portion is greater than 1 and not more than 1.09. The slope of the

  Further, the lower step 111c (see FIG. 6) is provided at the boundary between the lower end of the ice making area IMK and the lower area because the cross sectional area of the lower end of the ice making area IMK is larger than the cross sectional area of the lower area. ing.

  Furthermore, an upper step 111d (see FIG. 6) is provided at the boundary between the upper end of the ice making area IMK and the upper area because the cross sectional area of the upper area is larger than the cross sectional area of the upper end of the ice making area IMK. ing.

  In addition, a screw hole 114 (see FIG. 3) is formed at the center of the upper end of the ice-making cylinder 11. The screw holes 114 are located at the center of the ice-making cylinder 11, and the central axes of the six ice making chambers 111 are located on the same radius from the central axis of the screw holes 114.

  Furthermore, an inverted conical protrusion 115 is formed at the center of the recess 112 at the lower end of the ice-making cylinder 11. In the peripheral wall 113 forming the periphery of the recess 112, a hole (not shown) to which the temperature sensor S1 is attached is formed, and a screw hole 116 for screwing the joint 14 is formed.

  The pipe-like evaporator 12 corresponds to the middle region of the ice-making cylinder 11, ie, the ice-making region IMK (see FIG. 5) above the lower region where the ice making water flows in the ice making chamber 111 formed in the ice making body 11. Three to four turns are wound around the outer peripheral surface of the portion to be The evaporator 12 cools the liquid refrigerant in the inlet pipe 121, that is, the high temperature / high pressure gas refrigerant compressed by the operation of the compressor constituting the refrigeration cycle by the condenser to be the high temperature / high pressure liquid refrigerant, and by the expansion mechanism A liquid refrigerant supplied at a constant pressure is supplied, and when the liquid refrigerant passes through the evaporator 12 wound around the outer peripheral surface of the ice making cylinder 11, it takes heat from the ice making cylinder 11 and evaporates. Gas refrigerant is configured to be returned to the compressor via the outlet pipe 122 of the evaporator 12.

  In the freezing cycle, after the portion of the ice-making cylinder 11 where the evaporator 12 is wound (that is, the ice-making range IMK of the ice-making chamber 111) is cooled to a predetermined temperature (for example, 10 degrees below zero), the ice-making cylinder Operation control is performed so that the body 11 maintains a predetermined temperature.

  A temperature sensor S2 for detecting the temperature of the gas refrigerant is attached to the outlet pipe 122 via a mounting bracket 123 having an S-shaped cross section. The temperature sensor S2 is a well known sensor that detects the outlet temperature of the evaporator 12 to increase the operating efficiency of the compressor.

  The ice breaker 13 is made of metal and, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, comprises a screw portion 131 and an ice piece forming portion 132. The screw portion 131 is formed with an external thread corresponding to the screw hole 114 formed at the upper end of the ice-making cylinder 11. By screwing the screw portion 131 into the screw hole 114, the ice breaker 13 makes the ice cylinder 11 It is fixed to

  The ice piece forming portion 132 is a size larger than the screw portion 131 and does not overlap with the holes of the six ice making chambers 111 provided in the ice making cylinder 11, and the cylindrical portion 132a and the inclined surface portion And 132b. The cylindrical portion extends upward from the upper end of the ice-making cylinder 11 by a predetermined size. The inclined surface portion 132b is a hexahedron having inclined surfaces radially extended so as to respectively cross the axes of the holes of the six ice making chambers 111 provided in the ice making cylinder 11 from the cylindrical portion 132a.

  Here, when the ice breaker 13 is fixed to the ice-making cylinder 11, positioning is performed so that the respective inclined surfaces of the hexahedron in the inclined surface portion 132b face the holes of the six ice-making chambers 111 provided in the ice-making cylinder 11. Be done. Further, the ice chip forming portion 132 of the ice breaker 13 is formed with a water draining hole 133 which is bored in the vertical direction and in which a lateral hole is formed at the bottom.

  The joint 14 is made of metal, and as shown in FIG. 5, a funnel-shaped ice making water introduction portion 141 to which ice water is supplied and a cylindrical coupling portion 142 connected to an upper portion of the ice making water introduction portion 141. And a ridge portion 143 extending outward from the upper end of the ice making water introduction portion 141.

  The cylindrical coupling portion 142 is formed in a size to be fitted into the recess 112 formed at the lower end of the ice-making cylinder 11, and a holding groove of the O-ring P is formed on the outer peripheral surface. The flange portion 143 has a diameter one size larger than the diameter of the ice-making cylinder 11, and a hole (not shown) to which the temperature sensor S1 provided on the peripheral wall 113 at the lower end of the ice-making cylinder 11 is attached Correspondingly, a screw insertion hole 143a is provided.

  The ice making water introducing section 141 has an ice making water introducing pipe 141a formed at the bottom of a conical shape, and the ice making water introducing pipe 141a supplies a pipe for supplying ice making water, for example, a storage tank for storing tap water as ice making water. The supply pipe from the cistern is connected.

  Here, the ice making device 1 does not have a water level adjusting mechanism in the ice making device 1 itself, but in order to continuously make ice pieces of good quality, the water level in the ice making cylinder 11 (ice making chamber 111) It is necessary to maintain the water level of the height position of the evaporator 12 wound around the cylinder 11 at an appropriate level. In this case, the appropriate water level is the water level at the upper limit of the ice making area IMK (see FIGS. 5 and 6) in the ice making chamber 111 of the ice making cylinder 11.

  Therefore, if a cistern having a water level adjustment mechanism is installed side by side with the ice making apparatus 1 so that the water level in the ice making cylinder 11 (ice making chamber 111) becomes the same as the water level of the cistern, the ice making cylinder 11 (ice making chamber The water level in 111) can be maintained at the appropriate water level at the height position of the evaporator 12 wound around the ice making cylinder 11. The joint 14 is not limited to metal.

  In the state where the heat insulating material 15 is an assembly part formed by assembling the evaporator 12, the ice breaker 13 and the joint 14 with respect to the ice making cylinder 11 accommodated in the inside of the foam type, the undiluted solution of hard plastic foam is made into the foam type. The ice making unit 10 is used as a heat insulating structure by surrounding the assembly parts by injection and foaming.

  The plate-like heater 16 (see FIGS. 3 and 4) wound around the lower outer peripheral surface of the ice making cylinder 11 freezes the ice making water supplied to the ice making water introducing portion 141 in the joint 14. To prevent.

  When the ice storage section 20 becomes full due to the operation of the ice making apparatus 1 and the operation of the ice making apparatus 1 is stopped, the ice making water accumulated in the ice making water introducing section 141 of the joint 14 by the ice in the ice making chamber 111 of the ice making cylinder 11 May freeze.

  Therefore, the heater 16 is energized based on the detection output from the temperature sensor S1 mounted on the peripheral wall 113 formed at the lower end of the ice making cylinder 11, and the ice making water stagnating in the ice making water introducing portion 141 in the joint 14 is frozen. It is supposed not to do.

  The heater 16 is covered with an insulator, and terminals T1 and T2 are fixed to both ends thereof. Further, the heater 16 is preferably formed in a horseshoe shape by an elastic spring material, and in this case, the heater 16 can be brought into close contact with the outer peripheral surface of the ice making cylinder 11.

  The assembly of the ice making unit 10 will be described below. That is, in assembling the ice making unit 10, the screw portion 131 of the ice breaker 13 is screwed into the screw hole 114 formed at the upper end of the ice making cylinder 11 to fix the ice breaker 13 to the ice making cylinder 11.

  In this case, the inclined surfaces of the hexahedron in the inclined surface portion 132b of the ice breaker 13 are positioned and fixed so as to face the holes of the six ice making chambers 111 provided in the ice making cylinder 11, respectively.

  Next, the cylindrical joint portion 142 of the joint 14 is fitted into the recess 112 formed at the lower end of the ice making cylinder 11 to attach the joint 14, but in this case, the ice making cylinder 11 is reticulated and reticulated After the water filter 17 (see FIG. 4) is installed at the bottom of the recess 112, the cylindrical coupling portion 142 of the joint 14 is fitted into the recess 112. Thus, the water filter 17 is sandwiched between the joint portion 142 and the bottom of the recess 112.

  Thereafter, a screw is screwed into a screw hole 116 provided in the peripheral wall 113 of the ice making cylinder 11 via an insertion hole 143a provided in the flange portion 143 of the joint 14 so that the joint 14 is fixed to the ice making cylinder 11. Then, the heater 16 with the terminals T1 and T2 is mounted on the outer peripheral surface of the ice-making cylinder 11. In this case, when the heater 16 is formed in a horseshoe shape having elasticity, when both ends of the heater 16 are spread apart and mounted on the outer peripheral surface of the ice making cylinder 11, then the hand is released from the heater 16 The both ends of the heater 16 approach and the heater 16 adheres to the outer periphery of the ice making cylinder 11.

  Next, the pipe-like evaporator 12 is wound around the outer peripheral surface of the ice making cylinder 11. In this case, the evaporator 12 is divided into an evaporation pipe wound around the ice-making cylinder 11, the inlet pipe 121 and the outlet pipe 122, and after the evaporation pipe is wound around the ice-making cylinder 11, the inlets are formed at both ends. The pipe 121 and the outlet pipe 122 are connected respectively.

  In addition, without dividing the pipe into the evaporation pipe and the inlet pipe 121 and the outlet pipe 122, one long pipe is spirally wound into 3 to 4 turns and then the pipe extending in the spiral tangential direction is vertically formed. The inlet pipe 121 and the outlet pipe 122 can be formed by bending in directions, and the pipe-shaped evaporator 12 is not directly wound around the ice-making cylinder 11, but a predetermined shape (helical portion of 3 to 4 turns) is used. It is also possible to form the inlet pipe and the outlet pipe connected to each other, and attach the evaporator 12 to the ice-making cylinder 11 by soldering.

  As described above, the assembly part formed by attaching the heater 16, the evaporator 12, the ice breaker 13 and the joint 14 to the ice-making cylinder 11 is housed in the inside of the foam type, and the heat insulating material 15 is foam-formed. In this case, the upper portion (head) of the ice-making cylinder 11, the inlet pipe 121 of the evaporator 12, the outlet pipe 122, the terminals T1 and T2 of the heater 16, and the connector portion of the temperature sensor S1 are exposed from the foam type With the assembly part accommodated in the interior of the foam mold, an undiluted solution of hard plastic foam is poured into the foam mold for foam molding, whereby the ice making part 10 in which the periphery of the assembly part is surrounded by the heat insulator 15 is produced. The heat insulating material 15 is formed such that the upper portion (head portion) 15a is smaller than the trunk portion 15b.

  The ice making unit 10 manufactured in this manner is assembled to the bottoms of the bottomed cylindrical inner cylinder 21 and the outer cylinder 22 constituting the ice storage unit 20. In this case, the opening of the bottom of the bottomed cylindrical inner cylinder 21 is formed in such a size that the top (head) of the ice-making cylinder 11 in the ice storage unit 10 can penetrate, and the bottom of the bottomed cylindrical outer cylinder 22 is The opening is formed in such a size that the head 15 a of the heat insulating material 15 in the ice making unit 10 can penetrate.

  Therefore, when the ice making unit 10 is assembled to the bottom of the ice storage unit 20, the step portion of the body 15b of the heat insulating material 15 in the ice making unit 10 abuts on the periphery of the opening formed in the bottom of the outer cylinder 22 of the ice storage 20 It is positioned. In this state, the undiluted solution of hard plastic foam is injected between the inner cylinder 21 and the outer cylinder 22 of the ice storage unit 20, and the ice storage unit 20 is formed as a heat insulation structure by foaming. An ice making apparatus 1 is produced in which the ice storage unit 20 is firmly connected.

  Here, when the ice making unit 10 is assembled to the bottom of the ice storage unit 20, an O-ring P1 (see (b) in FIG. 1) is attached to the upper outer periphery of the ice making cylinder 11 in the ice making unit 10. Thus, the space between the opening of the inner cylinder 21 of the ice storage unit 20 and the head of the ice making cylinder 11 in the ice making unit 10 is sealed.

  In addition, the assembly of the ice making unit 10 to the ice storage unit 20 is not limited to the above-described example, and the ice making unit 10 and the ice storage unit 20 are separately manufactured as heat insulation structures respectively. It can also be fitted and assembled in the provided opening.

  Now, when the ice making apparatus 1 is operated, ice making water is supplied to the ice making chamber 111 of the ice making cylinder 11 from a cistern (not shown) via the joint 14. That is, the ice making water supplied from the cistern to the hollow 112 of the lower end of the ice making cylinder 11 through the ice making water introducing pipe 141 a of the joint 14 passes through the semicircular inlet 111 b formed at the lower end of the ice making chamber 111. Flow into each ice making chamber 111.

  In this case, ice-making water is stored in a recess 112 provided at the lower end of the ice-making cylinder 11, but an inverted conical protrusion 115 is formed at the center, and the inside of the recess 112 is filled with ice-making water Air bubbles do not occur.

  The water level of the ice making water stored in the ice making chamber 111 is at least the upper limit position of the ice making area IMK (see FIG. 5) in which the pipe-like evaporator 12 is wound. That is, the ice making apparatus 1 itself does not have a water level adjusting function, and a cistern having a water level adjusting mechanism for storing ice making water in a predetermined water level range is installed side by side with the ice making apparatus 1 to Since the water level of ice making water stored in the ice making chamber 111 is the upper limit position of the ice making area IMK (see FIG. 5), the installation position of the cis turn is determined. It is done. Thereby, the ice making water supplied from the cistern into the ice making chamber 111 is stored up to the upper limit position in the ice making area IMK (see FIG. 5).

  In this state, the compressor of the refrigeration cycle is operated to supply a liquid refrigerant at high temperature and high pressure, and the liquid refrigerant is supplied to the evaporator 12. The evaporator 12 has the liquid refrigerant wound around the outer peripheral surface of the ice making cylinder 11. In the process of passing through, the ice making cylinder 11 is cooled when it takes heat from the ice making cylinder 11 and evaporates to become a gas refrigerant.

  In this case, the cooling by the evaporator 12 is determined such that the ice making cylinder 11 has a predetermined temperature (for example, 10 degrees below zero), and the ice making region IMK (of the ice making water stored in the ice making chamber 111). When the temperature of the ice making water shown in FIG. 5) is cooled to 0 ° C. or lower, it gradually freezes from the inner wall of the ice making chamber 111 toward the center and becomes ice.

  Thus, the inner wall of the ice making chamber 111 receives pressure by volumetric expansion when ice making water turns into ice, but the ice making cylinder 11 forming the ice making chamber 111 is deformed because it is made of metal (for example, stainless steel) On the contrary, pressure is applied to the ice by the reaction from the inner wall of the ice making chamber 111.

  Here, in the ice making area IMK of the ice making chamber 111, since the cross-sectional area is formed in a tapered shape gradually increasing from the lower side to the upper side, a part of the pressure applied to ice pushes the ice upward It becomes.

  Further, the lower step 111c is provided at the boundary between the lower end of the ice making area IMK and the lower area thereof so that the cross sectional area of the lower end of the ice making area IMK becomes larger than the cross sectional area of the lower area. The ice formed at the lower end of the lower hook 111 is caught on the horizontal surface of the lower step 111c, and the reaction from the lower step 111c provides a driving force to push the ice upward.

  As described above, the ice made in the ice making area IMK in the ice making chamber 111 is subjected to a driving force that is pushed upward as the ice making progresses, so that the inside of the ice making chamber 111 is pushed upward.

  Since ice making water supplied from the cistern through the lower region of the ice making room 111 intrudes from the ice pushed up upward and ice making progresses continuously in the ice making area IMK of the ice making room 111, the ice making room 111 The ice-made ice is continuously pushed upward in the ice making area IMK, and a cylindrical ice block advances upwards above the ice making chamber 111 in a manner as if the ice pillars grow in the reverse direction. .

  The ice making region IMK in the ice making chamber 111 leaves a lower region through which the ice making water supplied to the ice making region IMK passes (flows), so the ice making water supply path to the ice making chamber 111 freezes and ice making water It will not stop being supplied.

  The ice block advancing upward from inside the ice making area 111 from the ice making area IMK of the ice making room 111 is the cross section of the upper area at the boundary between the upper end of the ice making area IMK of the ice making room 111 and its upper area An upper step 111d is provided which is larger than the cross-sectional area of the upper end of the IMK.

  That is, since the cross-sectional area of the upper area is larger than the cross-sectional area of the ice making area IMK, the ice block traveling upward in the ice making chamber 111 is not subjected to the resistance by the inner wall of the ice making chamber 111.

  In addition, the upper end of a columnar ice block advancing upward in the ice making chamber 111 by continuous ice making in the ice making chamber 111 comes out of the discharge port 111 a of the ice making chamber 111 and reaches the inclined surface portion 132 b of the ice breaker 13 The cylindrical ice block travels upward (vertically) along the cylindrical portion 132 a of the ice breaker 13 because there is nothing to impede the progress of the ice block in the stroke.

  Then, when the upper end of the ice mass advancing upward (vertical direction) contacts the inclined surface portion 132 b of the ice breaker 13, the traveling direction of the ice mass extending in the vertical direction is changed. In this case, the ice mass in the ice making chamber 111 is held on the inner wall of the ice making chamber 111 and the vertical posture is maintained, while there is no member for holding the peripheral edge of the ice lump coming out of the discharge port 111 a of the ice making chamber 111 You will not be able to maintain

  For this reason, when the upper end of the ice mass advancing upward (vertical direction) contacts the inclined surface portion 132b of the ice breaker 13, when the advancing direction of the ice mass extending in the vertical direction is changed, from the discharge port 111a of the ice making chamber 111 The ejected ice blocks are bent around the edge of the ice making chamber 111 as a fulcrum and break when broken stress to form ice pieces.

  The ice pieces thus formed fall into the ice storage section 20 and are stored. When pieces of ice are stored in the ice storage unit 20 and become full, the operation of the compressor of the refrigeration cycle is stopped and the ice making device 1 is in the standby state. Although not shown, stirring means is provided in the ice storage unit 20 for stirring the ice pieces stored therein and suppressing the formation of large ice blocks.

  In this standby state, ice remains in the ice making region IMK of the ice making chamber 111, and ice making water in the lower region of the ice making region IMK in the ice making chamber 111 is stagnant because it does not flow and may freeze.

  Therefore, the cooling temperature of the lower part of the ice making cylinder 11 is monitored by the temperature sensor S1 provided at the lower end of the ice making cylinder 11, and the ice making water staying in the lower area of the ice making chamber 111 is frozen based on the output of the temperature sensor S1. Before heating, the heater 16 is energized.

  This makes it possible to prevent the ice making water from being supplied to the ice making chamber 111 when the ice making water accumulated in the lower region of the ice making chamber 111 freezes and restarts the ice making by the ice making apparatus 1.

  Moreover, the environmental temperature (specification) in which this kind of ice making apparatus 1 is installed is defined in the range of about 1 ° C. to 40 ° C., even in winter at night (especially in cold regions) even indoors The temperature may drop below 0 ° C, and even if the supply pipeline from cistern to ice making device 1 is subjected to burst prevention measures, there is a possibility that the ice making water staying in the lower region of ice making chamber 111 in ice making cylinder 11 freezes. In this case, the heater 16 can be energized based on the detection output of a temperature sensor (not shown) that detects the outside air temperature.

  In addition, the temperature of the ice making water can be raised by heating the ice making water by energizing the heater 16, thereby allowing the high temperature water to freeze in a short time than the lower temperature water, that is, obtaining the mupemba effect. Can.

  In the embodiment, the ice chamber 111 has been described to have a circular cross-sectional shape, but the cross-sectional shape can be a polygon such as a square, and is not limited to the shape of the embodiment. .

  Moreover, although the ice storage part 20 demonstrated the thing provided with the cover body 30 in embodiment, while making it the airtight structure which does not have the cover body 30, an ice piece discharge outlet (not shown) is provided in the side wall of the ice storage part 20. And an ice outlet door for opening and closing the ice piece outlet, a solenoid for controlling the opening and closing of the ice outlet door, and an open / close button for giving a drive command to this solenoid. The door can be opened and closed to carry out the ice. In this case, when the ice delivery door is opened, the stirring means provided in the ice storage unit 20 is simultaneously operated to stir the ice pieces stored in the ice storage unit 20, thereby ensuring the delivery of the ice from the ice piece outlet. can do.

  Furthermore, although the embodiment has been described in which the heater 16 is attached to the outer peripheral surface of the ice making cylinder 11, the evaporator 12 is used as a condenser instead of the heater 16, that is, the refrigerant passing through the evaporator 12 It is also possible to eliminate the heater 16 by functioning as a condenser by backflowing the

As described above, the ice making device 1 according to this embodiment has a refrigeration cycle consisting of a compressor, a condenser, an expansion mechanism, and an evaporator 12, and linearly extends in the vertical direction. Ice-making cylinder 11 having an ice-making chamber 111 having an outlet 111a at the upper end of the hole and an inlet 111b for ice-making water at the bottom, and the ice-making water supplied into the ice-making chamber 111 via the inlet 111b. The evaporator 12 for cooling the ice-making cylinder 11 so as to freeze, and the ice- making chamber 111 faces the inlet 111b for introducing ice-making water and the flowing part of the ice-making water introduced from the inlet 111b The region above the lower region, which is the lower region, is the ice making region IMK, and the ice forming region IMK is formed as a tapered portion whose cross-sectional area gradually increases from the lower side toward the upper side, The lower region of the ice making chamber 111, the cross-sectional area of the lower section is being lower step 111c is formed to be smaller than the cross-sectional area of the ice making region IMK the boundary portion between the upper ice making region IMK than its lower section, an ice making cylinder Freezer 111 in the body 11, a reaction force from the tapered portion and a lower stepped subjected to pressure by the volume expansion when the ice making water by cooling the ice making region IMK by the evaporator 12 changes to ice, ice As a driving force to push up, a pillar-shaped ice mass which travels upward in the ice making chamber 111 is formed. As a result, it is possible to form chip-like ice pieces by driving sourceless as a driving force for advancing ice in a predetermined direction by pressure due to volumetric expansion when ice making water becomes ice, like an auger type ice making machine, The chip-shaped ice pieces can be formed without the need for a drive motor for driving the auger that cuts the thin ice icing on the inner wall surface of the ice making cylinder into flakes and pushes it up.

  As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described, this invention is not limited to this, A various change can be made.

  In the embodiment described above, the ice making water is supplied to the ice making chamber 111 from the cistern, but in the present invention, as shown in FIG. 7, the lower part of the ice making cylinder 11 is represented by, for example, an injector. A supply means 40 constituted by a metering pump may be provided. The supply means 40 is for pressurizing the ice making water quantitatively and supplying it to the ice making chamber 111. The ice making water can be stably supplied to the ice making chamber 111 by supplying the ice making water through the supply means 40 as described above. In addition, the overall size of the ice making apparatus can be reduced.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Ice making apparatus, 10 ... Ice making part, 11 ... Ice making cylinder, 12 ... Evaporator, 13 ... Ice breaker, 14 ... Joint, 15 ... Insulation material, 16 ... Heater, 20 ... Ice storage part, 111 ... Ice making room, 111 a ... discharge port, 111b ... introduction port, 112 ... dent, 115 ... projection, 131 ... screw part, 132 ... ice piece forming part, 132a ... cylindrical part, 132b ... inclined surface part.

Claims (3)

An ice making apparatus having a refrigeration cycle comprising a compressor, a condenser, an expansion mechanism, and an evaporator, having an outlet at the upper end of a hole extending linearly in the vertical direction and an inlet for ice water at the lower side. And an evaporator for cooling the ice-making cylinder so as to freeze the ice-making water supplied into the ice-making chamber via the inlet . A region facing the inlet for introducing ice-making water and above the lower region where the ice-making water introduced from the inlet flows is defined as an ice-making region, and the ice-making region is cut from the lower side toward the upper side. The cross-sectional area of the lower region is smaller than the cross-sectional area of the ice making region at the boundary between the lower region of the ice making chamber and the ice making region above the lower region. Lower step is formed Ri, ice making room in the ice-making cylinder is a reaction force from the tapered portion and a lower stepped subjected to pressure by the volume expansion when the ice making water by cooling the ice making region by the evaporator is changed to ice, ice An ice making apparatus characterized by forming a pillar-shaped ice mass which travels upward in the ice making chamber as a driving force to push up the ice. The ice making chamber is formed in a plurality at predetermined intervals along the peripheral edge of the cylindrical ice making cylinder, and each of the ice making chambers is provided at the lower end of the plurality of ice making chambers at the lower end of the ice making cylinder. The ice making device according to claim 1, wherein a recess communicating with the inlet is formed, and the center of the recess has an inverted conical protrusion extending downward. An upper step is formed at the boundary between the upper area of the ice making chamber and the ice making area below the upper area so that the sectional area of the upper area is larger than the sectional area of the ice making area. An ice making device according to Item 1.

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